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☆ Musk and Zuck promised us a cage fight, but what we've got are 2 reply guys trading petty jabs
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg remain at each others' throats following the launch of Threads. The squabble has ramped up a notch after Twitter threatened to take Meta to court over Threads. It's getting a bit pitiful for Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg as their feud continues to escalate, following the launch of Threads. In Musk's case, Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino should bring a level-headedness that her colleague is clearly lacking. These include hashtags, a "following" feed, and a messaging function, which means Threads is still a skeletal project.

Persons: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, haven't, Musk, Alex Spiro, Zuckerberg –, Meta, Andy Stone, Sheel Mohnot, Zuckerberg, Zuck, who's, He's, Alex Heath, Linda Yaccarino, Adam Mosseri, Mosseri Organizations: Meta, Twitter, UFC Locations: San Francisco

☆ Meta's new Twitter rival, a 'text-based conversation app' called Threads, is available to pre-download in the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Sydney Bradley | Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Instagram's new Twitter-like app, called Threads, is now available for pre-order in the US. The app is expected to officially drop July 6, according to its App Store description. The app, called Threads, is expected to officially drop July 6, according to its App Store description. Over the weekend, several people spotted that the new app was listed on the Google Play app store for Android. The app description currently reads:"Say more with Threads — Instagram's text-based conversation appThreads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what'll be trending tomorrow.

Persons: Alessandro Paluzzi, Alex Heath, Chris Cox, Jack Dorsey, Instagram, Sydney Organizations: Instagram, Morning, Google, Android, Twitter, Sydney Bradley Locations: Italian

☆ Instagram's new Twitter rival 'Threads' appears to be showing up on the European Google Play app store
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Sydney Bradley | Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Now the Threads app has been spotted on the Google Play app store in Europe. After months of rumors, Instagram's Twitter rival may be hitting the app store soon. Over the weekend, several people spotted that a new app called "Threads" was listed on the Google Play app store for Android. A link to the desktop version of the Google Play app store appears to only be available in European countries, such as Italy, France, Spain, and Germany. The Threads app is currently listed on the Google Play app store in European countries.

Persons: Instagram, Alessandro Paluzzi, Alex Heath, Chris Cox, Oprah, Mark Zuckerberg, Adam Mosseri, Eric Wei, We've, Wei, Daniel Morgan, Sydney, Marta Biino Organizations: Instagram, Google, Morning, Twitter, Android, Meta, Synovus, Sydney Bradley Locations: Europe, Italian, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Meta

☆ Mark Zuckerberg took the bait on Elon Musk's cage-match invitation, so now we might actually get to see the fight no one asked for
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

It's the cage fight no one asked for. Jiu-jitsu lover Mark Zuckerberg has responded to Elon Musk's offer to fight him. Well, Elon Musk got what he asked for: Mark Zuckerberg is down to fight him. Mark Zuckerberg has a response to Elon Musk's suggestion that they get down and dirty in a cage match: "Send Me Location." When's fight night, Elon?

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk's, Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Musk, he'd, Elon, Iska Saric, Alex Heath, Zuckerberg's, When's Locations: Musk's

☆ Mark Zuckerberg reportedly bashes Apple's Vision Pro: 'Every demo that they showed was a person sitting on a couch by themself'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Mark Zuckerberg criticized Apple's Vision Pro headset at a companywide meeting, The Verge reported. He said that Meta's vision was "fundamentally social," while Apple's vision is "not the one I want." On paper, and even according to early hands-on impressions, Apple's headset looks far superior to Meta's — even if Apple's headset is exorbitantly more expensive. In the Thursday meeting, Zuckerberg said that Apple's headset design didn't have any innovations that Meta hadn't "already explored and thought of." Zuckerberg highlighted that, in the case of the Quest 3, Apple's headset "costs seven times more."

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's, Zuckerberg, Apple, Meta, it's, Price, Read Organizations: Meta, Apple

☆ People who were whisked away in golf carts to try out Apple's $3,500 headset are calling it 'magic' that is 'still searching for a purpose'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Following the announcement of Apple's Vision Pro headset at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, some attendees were whisked away in golf carts to a location on the company's campus to try out the new headset. Many noted the device's display screens were impressive (each have a more-than 4K resolution) and its hand-eye scrolling and tapping functions were responsive and worked mostly smoothly. YouTuber Brownlee said the most impressive thing about the headset was the device's internal eye-tracking technology, calling the experience "telepathic." The Verge's Patel was impressed by the device's display, which he said was "easily the highest-resolution VR display I have ever seen," and its "video passthrough" technology — the device's display adjusting to show a person who is talking to you in-person or your surroundings. "The most perfect headset demo reel of all time is still just a headset demo reel — whether Apple's famed developer community can generate a killer app for the Vision Pro is still up in the air," The Verge's Patel wrote.

Persons: YouTuber Marques Brownlee, Nilay Patel, —, YouTuber Brownlee, Brownlee, I've, Patel, Robin Roberts, Roberts, Joanna Stern, Stern Organizations: Apple, Developers, Apple's, Developers Conference, Vision

☆ Airbnb CEO shares the best advice he's ever received—it's 'counterintuitive to almost everything everyone says’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A single piece of advice from an investor helped Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky grow his company from a struggling startup to an industry giant worth roughly $70 billion. That's according to Chesky himself, who told attendees at a recent Stanford Graduate School of Business event that it was "the best piece of advice I ever got." The advice: "Focus on 100 people that love you, rather than getting a million people to kind of like you," Chesky said. It came courtesy of Paul Graham, the co-founder of tech startup accelerator Y Combinator, who advised Airbnb's co-founders — Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk — to focus on a tiny audience of potential customers as they built their company. For early Airbnb, that meant creating experiences for guests that stood out from staying at a hotel or crashing on a couch.

☆ Elon Musk's lawyer sent a letter to Microsoft accusing it of misusing Twitter's data after retrieving 26 billion tweets in a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Verge's copy of the letter shows a dispute over Microsoft's use of Twitter's API. The lawyer said Microsoft had retrieved over 26 billion tweets in 2022 alone. Elon Musk's lawyer sent a letter to the Microsoft CEO on Thursday accusing the company of misusing Twitter's data, The New York Times first reported. He wrote that Twitter therefore requests an audit of Microsoft's API use, describing all the Twitter content that was retained and how it was used. Microsoft told The New York Times it no longer pays for Twitter's data.

☆ Elon Musk is paying for a few of his favorite celebrities to stay on Twitter Blue, even after they dissed the new blue checks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk said he's personally paying for several top celebrities' Twitter Blue subscriptions. Billionaire Elon Musk says he's personally paying for several well-known figures to stay on Twitter Blue after they refused to fork up $8 for a monthly subscription. "My Twitter account says I've subscribed to Twitter Blue. James received an email from Twitter offering free verification "on behalf of Elon Musk," the outlet reported. Musk on Wednesday responded to the online discussion of celebrities receiving free verification, saying he is "paying for a few personally" to keep their Twitter Blue subscriptions.

☆ TikTok's Chinese owner boosts annual profits to a record $25 billion, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

ByteDance posted a profit of $25 billion last year, the Financial Times reported. The TikTok owner increased its bottom line by almost 80% compared with 2021's $14 billion result. Revenues jumped more than 30% to about $85 billion as advertisers increased their spending on TikTok and its Chinese equivalent called Douyin. ByteDance has been threatened with a US TikTok ban by the Biden administration if it doesn't sell the app. ByteDance did not respond to a request for comment from the Financial Times and didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ A top TikTok lawyer reportedly laughed when an employee asked about a potential ban in US
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A top TikTok lawyer was reportedly asked what the company would do if the app was banned in the US. Several countries banned TikTok on government devices, and India has an outright ban on the app. Australia recently moved to ban TikTok on government devices, a move that the United States, Canada, France, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom previously made. India has had an outright ban on TikTok in place since 2020. Still, experts have said a full TikTok ban in the US is the last possible option for the US.

☆ Meta VP tells staff to make the metaverse 'so obviously successful' that his dad stops calling every week to ask about it
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Meta VP told staff to "buckle down" and "build great products" for the metaverse, per The Verge. Only one in 10 users reportedly come back to its Horizon metaverse platform after a month. The VP reportedly said he wants the metaverse and VR to be "so obviously successful that my dad stops calling me every week to ask" about it. "And please, let's make the metaverse and VR so obviously successful that my dad stops calling me every week to ask me about it," he reportedly added. But only time will tell if Meta's products will keep users active in the metaverse.

☆ One of Elon Musk's most loyal employees was fired at Twitter. Here's how she went from surviving layoffs to the chopping block in the span of a few months.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Crawford spent over two years at Twitter, according to her LinkedIn, working on projects like Twitter Blue and Spaces. Insider's Kali Hays first reported in January that 50 people on Twitter's product team were set to be let go. Following the first round of layoffs in November, The Verge reported Crawford told employees at Twitter that mass firings were "required" for Twitter to survive, which distanced herself from her colleagues. Unnamed employees at Twitter acknowledged this prominence in the FT report, saying she and Musk began working closely following the takeover. "She has become a bit of an interpreter between Elon and the product team," one senior staffer told FT.

☆ Elon Musk reportedly gave staff a one-week deadline to turn around Twitter's ad business — and then laid them off
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk laid of dozens of staff across engineering and sales departments last week, The Verge reported. The publication said Musk also gave workers a one-week deadline to change Twitter's ad business. The publication said that Musk laid off employees in sales and engineering, marking the third round of major lay offs since Musk took over at the company in November. Since taking Twitter private, Musk has laid off over half of the company's workforce. Ultimately, Musk's plan for Twitter's ad business appears to imitate ad-targeting methods used by Google, which shows users ads tied to keywords they've searched for on the platform.

☆ Meta CTO reportedly tells employees the company tracked down a leaker and severed ties with them
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta's CTO told staff the company identified a worker who leaked information, The Verge reported. Lynch, who showed off the leaked designs in his YouTube video, told Insider he does not "normally" pay for leaked information. The YouTuber previously told Command Line that the Meta leaker "might have asked because I wasn't willing to give much money up front." Insider previously reported that an online user found an unreleased Meta VR headset in a hotel room and posted photos and a video of the device on Facebook. Zuckerberg has said Meta and Apple are in "very deep, philosophical competition" when it comes to selling VR headsets and building the metaverse, The Verge reported in July.

In a survey done by US Foods, delivery drivers and customers agree that $4 is a reasonable tip for those delivering food. Tips are more essential than they've ever been, as rideshare delivery drivers get fewer protections and perks than delivery drivers traditionally employed by restaurants. US Foods' data shows that customers, on average, are willing to pay $8.50 total for extra delivery charges, including tips, delivery fees, and service fees. The gig economy made tipping crucialRideshare delivery drivers aren't employees of the company they're driving for. While delivery drivers employed by a specific restaurant may have access to benefits, health insurance, and even help with costs like gas, rideshare delivery drivers don't have access to these things.

☆ Meta's technology chief reportedly told employees that higher headcount has led to 'untenable' slow movement, including meetings that take a month to schedule
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth told employees in an email that "that adding headcount "makes everything slower," according to The Verge. Reality Labs is the division of Meta that contains its metaverse and virtual reality units. According to Command Line, Bosworth believes Meta's inflated ranks have led to scheduling delays, too. The company also said it expected losses from Reality Labs to grow in 2023, after reporting its financial results for the third quarter of 2022. Read the entire Command Line newsletter here.

☆ If the FTC is going to sue Meta for Within, they had to stop the Activision deal, says The Verge's Patel
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailIf the FTC is going to sue Meta for Within, they had to stop the Activision deal, says The Verge's PatelNilay Patel, The Verge, joins 'TechCheck' to discuss why he expected the FTC to sue Microsoft over its attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard, if there's a potential monopoly forming in virtual reality and more.

☆ Tech layoffs are companies cutting back to their core business, says The Verge's Patel
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTech layoffs are companies cutting back to their core business, says The Verge's PatelNilay Patel, The Verge editor-in-chief and CNBC contributor, joins 'TechCheck' to discuss whether other tech companies will follow 'Elon's razor' strategy by cutting staff headcount but maintaining innovation, the recent spate of layoffs and more.

☆ Twitter reportedly scraps holiday pay for contractors as part of new rules that will begin during Thanksgiving
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter has cut holiday pay for contractors from Thanksgiving onwards, per a Platformer reporter. The measure will start during Thanksgiving, according to Schiffer. The Verge's Alex Heath said on Thursday that some Twitter engineers received an email on Wednesday evening, saying they were fired because their "code is not satisfactory." Twitter didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal US operating hours about the company reportedly cutting contractors' holiday pay and firing some engineers. Twitter said on Monday in a company email viewed by Insider's Kali Hays that it was facing "a challenging economic climate where greater attention to cost management is essential."

☆ Chaos unchecked: A comprehensive timeline of Elon Musk's Twitter verification saga - for now
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Elon Musk's revamped Twitter Blue launch has hit some major snags in the past week. The shenanigans surrounding the blue check (and subsequent gray check) has heads spinning among average Twitter users, major advertisers and big-name celebrities. Here's a look at everything that's happened with Twitter Blue in the past week and the murky state of verification on the platform. Musk's new verification model was designed to become part of Twitter's existing Twitter Blue feature, a $4.99 monthly subscription offering premium services. He also said that Twitter is adding a "parody subscript," because "tricking people is not ok."It is unclear when and how Twitter Blue may be reinstated.

☆ Elon Musk says he has PTSD and paranoia about recessions after trying to keep Tesla and PayPal alive during periods marked by financial turmoil
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk told Twitter staff he had PTSD and paranoia about recessions, per a transcript by The Verge. Musk also said in the meeting he sold Tesla stock to save the social-media platform, per The Verge. He said he had "recession PTSD" from keeping PayPal alive during the 2000 recession and Tesla alive through the 2009 recession. "You may have read that I sold a bunch of Tesla stock. Musk told Twitter staff to expect one or two years of recession, which will disproportionately affect the company, according to The Verge's transcript.

☆ Elon Musk told Twitter staff to expect 80-hour work weeks and fewer office perks, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk told Twitter staff that they should expect to work 80-hour weeks, per Bloomberg. Musk previously got rid of remote working, telling workers 40 hours in the office was a minimum. While working on the controversial new $8 verification feature, some Twitter managers told staff to work 84-hour weeks – or 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, CNBC reported. Musk himself is now laying down these demanding expectations, and also added that there will be fewer office perks like free food. Per The Verge's transcript of Musk's Q&A and with employees, Musk told staff to work with "a maniacal sense of urgency."

☆ Time spent gaming is under pressure due to back-to-school, says The Verge's Nilay Patel
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTime spent gaming is under pressure due to back-to-school, says The Verge's Nilay PatelNilay Patel, The Verge editor-in-chief, joins 'TechCheck' to discuss gaming trade valuations, optimism about daily-active-users gaining momentum in VR gaming and gaming companies finding monetization opportunities.

☆ Meta is mad about Apple's latest policy change, accusing the company of trying to 'grow their own business while undercutting others'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Apple's updated App Store rules give it 30% of in-app purchases for social media post "boosts." A Meta spokesperson told Insider that Apple's move undercuts other businesses and helps itself. "Apple continues to evolve its policies to grow their own business while undercutting others in the digital economy," a Meta spokesperson told Insider in a statement. In Meta's earning call on Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged some of Apple's recent changes, including its latest App Store policy language around boosted posts, saying they are "obviously big risks" that Meta "see as issues." Meta experienced a 4% revenue decline in the third quarter of this year, continuing a string of disappointing quarterly earnings.

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